Like any other touristy town, the town of Cusco is buzzing with restaurants, shops, tour operators, and more. It is colorful, vibrant, cool, and warm at the same time. As you look around there are dogs wearing sweaters owning the streets, tourists wearing colorful traditional Incan ponchos, and the fragrance of street food. The city itself is a beautiful blend of modern and traditional. You see Hyundai-powered buses and tuk-tuks on the stone-cobbled streets that were once a part of the Inca empire.
We chose a half-day city tour of Cusco, to keep things easy on the first day. Being at 12000ft makes it difficult to breathe and you only need to climb a few stairs to realize it. The morning started with a relaxing Inca hot stones massage at our boutique hotel called Rumi Punko.
Around 12pm our guide Savi, from Alpaca Adventures came to pick us up. Since it was just the 3 of us, the group tour turned into a private tour. Savi told us, that he was taking us further up the elevation for our first site. I was not very happy about it. My headache had just settled down at 12000 ft. I didn’t want to give it any more pressure. We soon pulled into our first site. While Savi took our tickets, I used the incredibly clean public restrooms(DFW and Atlanta airports, please take notes).
Water Temple (Tambomachay)
Tambomachay or the water temple is an Incan site, dedicated to water. The first thing you notice when you walk in, is the articulately laid out rocks, which build the walls of the structure. They are of all shapes and sizes and fit into each other like pieces of a puzzle. Some of the stones were concave and some convex, to juxtapose strongly together. Water flowed through many aqueducts and was used by the Inca people, for agriculture, bathing, and ritualistic purposes. It was here that I was introduced to the 3 main principles of the Incan culture. At the main structure, the water was coming from three different aqueducts, each aqueduct representing
- Knowledge
- Work
- Love
Our tour guide Savi had an interest in flowers and pointed out local ones when he got a chance. At Tamboachay he introduced us to the national flower ”Cantua”. The bright orange and red flowers, shaped like a bell, to me resembled, the vibrant people of Peru. He also introduced us to the Peruvian pine tree. These trees are very twisted and have thin pieces of wood-like paper exfoliating from them.
Puka Pukara
The next Incan site that we visited was “Puka Pukara” which was basically an Incan Hotel. Travelers from far and beyond stayed here when they came to visit the capital city of Cusco. Here we again saw the architectural genius that was the Incas. There were double door systems, places to keep candles for illumination which are built right into stones, all structures built not at 90 degrees but at an angle, to counteract any earthquake tremors since the region does sit on Andean fault lines. Savi, asked us to sit in a particular room and touch the walls, it felt like he was soaking in the energy of the place and was asking us to do the same. He told us later that it was the meditation room and believed that the energy flow was still there in the place.
Q’enqo
This was probably my most favorite site in all of the Inca sites that we visited. It wasn’t extravagant or big but to me, it screamed “mystical”. Q’enqo is the local term for “zigzag”. A curved pathway leads to a cave below. It looked like a man-made canyon, the sun hitting it, at interesting angles. As we entered the cave that the canyon led to, the breeze became cool and we were shielded from the hot mountain sun. Savi pointed to a horizontal stone and told us that this was an altar, where an Inca mummy was kept. We could tell that this was probably still used as a place of worship, looking at the offerings of fresh coca leaves. Q’enqo is perched atop a hill and one can see the entire of Cusco down in the valley. We stopped here for some pictures.
SAQSAYWAMAN
Savi had reserved the grandest of Inca sites for the last. Sasqwewaman is truly a place fit for kings if not gods. With huge grounds, beautiful views of Cusco, and large stone structures, this was the site that was used for Inca festivals. Think of opulence and grand processions when you think of Saqsaywaman. Cusco is a city built in the shape of a Puma’s body, Saqsaywaman is considered its head. Here there are large pools, which used to be filled with crystal clear water. Savi informed us, that the purpose of these pools, was to reflect the night sky above. The Inca astronomers used the reflection to study the celestial objects at that time. They had knowledge of the Milky Way, Cygnus, Southern Cross, and much more.
Cusco Cathedral
After visiting all the Inca sites our last stop was the cathedral in Plaza de Armas. This is a Spanish site. The Spaniards built it on top of the Inca foundations. No phones are allowed inside. The cathedral is beautiful. It has huge paintings, murals, and intricate woodwork. As much as I wanted to appreciate the cathedral I didn’t get a good feeling. I wanted to get out of there and in the open as soon as possible. Savi told us that the cathedral was built by the labor of thousands of Inca workers. They were treated as slaves and were not paid anything for their hard work. The working conditions were torturous. As beautiful as the cathedral was, I could feel the pain of the Incas screaming through all that beauty.
Savi left us at the bustling Plaza de Armas. Plaza de Armas is the heart of touristy Cusco. Lined with restaurants and shops, it feels like the entire of Cusco congregates here. After having a little snack we left for our hotel. The half-day tour by Alpaca for perfect for acclimatization to Cusco’s high elevation and also a great introduction to the Incas. When I thought of the Inca I only thought of Machu Pichu, but they were greater and much widespread than that. This half-day tour of Cusco, was a very good testament to that.
Stay tuned for the sacred valley tour, which highlights the scientific acumen of the Incas, and also for a delicious food tour across Peru.
Resources :
Half-day Cusco city tour – https://www.alpacaexpeditions.com/cusco-city-tour-half-day/
Read more of my Peru Adventures :
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